LADIES: DID YOU KNOW...

Monday Mission: Take Charge of Your Health with One Big Change

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

Your mission, if you choose to accept, is to decide on One Big Change you want to tackle in your health – just ONE, folks, baby steps here! – and then One Simple Thing you can do to move toward making a big change.

It gets too overwhelming to do it all at once, I get that. Our baby steps toward healthier living were so small and spread out, and not even all that focused on the One Big Health Goal we probably should have been working hard on but didn’t even realize it, that we hardly noticed we had achieved better health until looking back over the past six years. (Read our story HERE.)

What I love most about sharing our stories here on KS – beyond the fact that those posts become the most detailed medical history anyone could imagine – is how others get inspired and encouraged by real life success (and even struggling) stories. I so very much appreciate hearing about your frustrations, your fears, your own struggles, and especially your progress on the road to better health.

What’s Your One Big Change?

Maybe you feel tired all the time.

Maybe your gut hurts and you don’t know why.

Maybe you’re getting ticked off at the extra weight you wish you could get rid of.

Maybe you’ve received a diagnosis that has changed your life – postpartum depression, pre-diabetes, high cholesterol, IBD – and you wish there was a better way to be in control of it beyond daily prescriptions.

Whatever your life has brought you, take a moment to think about the One Big Change you wish you could make in your health.

One Simple Thing

You probably have some idea of what you want to do to tackle your One Big Change, or at least a goal (“make it go away” “feel normal again” or something more specific) in mind.

Can you figure out the One Simple Thing you can do today, without any planning, without an hour of research, without feeling overwhelmed? For some, it might be 10 minutes of exercise. That isn’t a magic potion that would change someone’s life, but it is One Simple Thing you could do to move in the right direction and get some momentum.

What’s yours?

Sometimes a little momentum is all you need, even if it’s hard to believe one tiny thing will make a difference.

Arm Yourself with Knowledge

The greatest tool to help you take control of your own health is, of course, knowledge. All the knowledge in the world seems to be at our fingertips on the web. It’s not all reliable, though, and it can be hard to know what to believe sometimes.

Today’s baby step doesn’t include hours of Googling, but eventually, you know you’ll hit that point. When you do, make sure that you corroborate the information you find in multiple places, and that they refer back to multiple sources, not just one main source spawning a hundred blog posts.

If you can find academic research from medical journals to back up your findings, all the better.

You’ll have to decide for yourself whether you’ll trust anecdotal evidence. I don’t mistrust it completely because I believe we do live in a connected world where people are supposed to help each other and learn from each other. I have seen too many people helped just by hearing others’ stories and giving something a try – those things that have no real risks, like cutting out sugar or grains, eating more vegetables, or getting more sleep.

If you can’t go wrong, it doesn’t hurt to try.

What’s Yours?

If a little accountability would help you – for myself, I know I rarely keep up my willpower for much of anything if I don’t have someone else looking over my shoulder – I encourage you to leave a note in the comments today.

What’s your One Big Change?

What’s your One Simple Thing?

If you’re already on the journey, what’s your #MyNewNormal?

The added benefit of sharing your story is that you might inspire others in the KS community to think out of the box for their simple step, or just to know that true change might be possible.

Is food or healthy living a cure-all and a guarantee of better health? Of course not. I don’t want you to think that making little changes will be a panacea and cure everything that’s bothering you…that would be false hope and misleading…but I DO want to encourage you that it may be possible to make massive changes in your health just by baby stepping your way toward better choices. I really do believe change is possible, and I’ve seen it with my own eyes.

I can’t wait to hear what you’re going to start working on THIS WEEK!

Disclosure: There are affiliate links in this post. See my full disclosure statement here.

Need More Baby Steps?

Here at Kitchen Stewardship, we’ve always been all about the baby steps. But if you’re just starting your real food and natural living journey, sifting through all that we’ve shared here over the years can be totally overwhelming.

That’s why we took the best 10 rookie “Monday Missions” that used to post once a week and made a printable checklist so you can track your progress.

Sign up to get the checklist and weekly challenges and teaching on key topics like meal planning, homemade foods that save the budget (and don’t take too much time), what to cut out of your pantry, and more.

About Katie Kimball @ Kitchen Stewardship

Katie Kimball is a trusted educator and author of 8 real food cookbooks. She is passionate about researching natural remedies and making healthy cooking easier for busy families. She’s been featured on media outlets like ABC, NBC and First for Women magazine as well as contributing regularly on the FOX Network. Over the last 10 years, Katie has spoken prolifically at conferences, online summits and podcasts and become a trusted authority and advocate for children’s health. Busy moms look to this certified educator for honest, in-depth natural product reviews and thorough research. She often partners with health experts and medical practitioners to deliver the most current information to the Kitchen Stewardship community. In 2016 she created the #1 bestselling online kids cooking course, Kids Cook Real Food, helping thousands of families around the world learn to cook. A mom of 4 kids from Michigan, she is a Stress Mastery Educator and member of the American Institute of Stress.

8 Bites of Conversation So Far

I took charge of my health 6 months ago after an elevated A1C level put me in the pre-diabetic range (6.9). I said to myself “NO WAY am I going down that road!!” I increased protein and fat intake, increased fruits and veggies, and decreased “empty” carbs… voila! My A1C is now normal (5.6) and I have lost 12 pounds so far. And even with the increased intake of saturated fats (butter, nuts, olive oil, higher fat dairy, etc.), my lipid panel remains completely normal! Now just working on increasing the exercise/physical activity and getting my husband on board 🙂

Please remember that I’m just a gal who reads a lot and spends way too much time in her kitchen. I’m not a doctor, nurse, scientist, or even a real chef, and certainly the FDA hasn't evaluated anything on this blog. Any products mentioned are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Please talk to your health professional (or at least your spouse) before doing anything you might think is questionable. Trust your own judgment…I can’t be liable for problems that occur from bad decisions you make based on content found here.

Some posts on this blog contain affiliate links which generate commission if you purchase anything starting with those links. KS also accepts private sponsorships and we are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. More info here.